Ohio Farmers Union

Serving Family Farmers and Consumers Since 1934



United to Grow Family Agriculture Since 1934

  • About
    • The Farmers Union Triangle
    • Vision
    • OFU Leadership
  • Issues
    • 2020 Virtual Lobby Days
    • OFU Policy & NFU Policy
    • 2019 Lobby Day Registration
    • Get Involved!
    • NFU Climate Leaders
  • Education
    • 2019 OFU Essay Contest
    • Ohio Farmers Union Scholarships
    • Farm Safety
    • Renewable Energy Curriculum
  • Insurance
    • Hastings Mutual Insurance Co.
    • Health & Other Offerings
    • Ohio BWC Group Coverage
  • Join Us
    • Online Sign-Up
    • Member Benefits
    • Insurance
  • Blog
  • Events

USDA Disappoints in Announced Move of NIFA and ERS

June 13, 2019 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Ten months after introducing a plan to relocate and reorganize two major agricultural research agencies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that it will move the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Economic Research Service (ERS) to the Kansas City region.

National Farmers Union’s (NFU) 200,000 family farmer and rancher members depend on objective, publicly funded science to make critical business decisions. Due to concerns about how the proposal could both undermine the integrity of NIFA and ERS’s research as well as diminish the role of science in policymaking, NFU has urged the USDA and Congress to suspend the move.

In response to USDA’s announcement and apparent disregard for widespread opposition to its plan, NFU President Roger Johnson restated the organization’s dissent and again called on Congress to prevent the process from moving forward.
“Family farmers and ranchers wear dozens of hats – in addition to growing food, they are also business owners, scientists, marketers, and technicians. Mastering all these drastically different skills requires access to objective, science-based solutions – and it requires evidence-based policies that support those solutions. Moving NIFA and ERS farther away from our nation’s capital, as the USDA intends to do, could negatively impact the ability of these agencies to produce and fund high-quality research and communicate with legislators, which could, in turn, make it that much more difficult to be a farmer. “We are extremely frustrated that our serious concerns have fallen on deaf ears. Even in light of all of these possible repercussions, USDA is barreling forward with this ill-conceived plan. Their slapdash approach has already disrupted operations and eroded morale at both NIFA and ERS. Before additional damage is done, we strongly urge Congress to act swiftly to put an end to this destructive relocation and reorganization.”

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Blog

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • YouTube

Latest News from the Ohio & National Farmers Union

2022 OFU Special Orders

Annual Policy Priorities For the eighty-eighth year, the Ohio Farmers Union has established the organization's public policy priorities at the … Read More

Ohio County Fair Schedule 2022

It's looking great for the first full, uninterrupted Ohio fair season since the beginning of the pandemic. Of special note, the Ohio State Fair will … Read More

Rural Broadband Gets Win in Ohio Budget

State Senators Matt Huffman, R-Lima, and Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, tried to kill $90 million for rural broadband expansion, yet the Ohio … Read More

State Legislators Listen – Rural Broadband Back in Ohio Two-Year Budget

In a pleasant surprise for rural Ohio, the biennial budget was agreed to Monday with Gov. Mike DeWine's full $250 million funding request for rural … Read More

Check Out the Entire Blog

NATIONAL FARMERS UNION

Click to Take Action



Contact

Ohio Farmers Union
P.O. Box 363
1011 N. Defiance Street
Ottawa, Ohio 45875
Phone: (419) 523-5300
Toll Free: (800) 321-3671

Copyright Ohio Farmers Union© 2023 | Site by: RCS Communications